People

Superintendent J. Michael Brandt of the Cincinnati public
schools has announced his decision to retire.

Mr. Brandt took over a troubled 49,000-student system in 1991 that
was suffering from failing levies, a lack of funding for its
classrooms, and what many saw as a bloated and inefficient central
office.

He initiated several big changes, including a reduction of 50 percent
in the central administration; the establishment of a pilot Mini
District to test new ideas and practices; and the implementation of a
pay-for-performance plan for administrators.

Mr. Brandt, 51, will remain with the district until next July, when
his contract expires. He has not yet announced his future plans... San
Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Waldemar Rojas
has been elected to serve as chair of the board of directors of the
Council of the Great City Schools, a Washington-based coalition
representing the nation's 50 largest urban public school districts.

Mr. Rojas succeeds Toledo, Ohio, public schools board member
Wilma Brown, who was recently elected to the Toledo city
council.

Jondel "JD" Hoye, the director of the National School-to-Work
Office, a joint initiative of the federal departments of Education and
Labor, will step down when her contract ends in February.

Ms. Hoye has led the Washington-based office, which is responsible for
providing support for state and local efforts to foster school-to-work
systems, since 1994.

"I feel a strong foundation is now in place that will allow the kind
of national system change to take place as envisioned by President
Clinton when signing the National School-to-Work Opportunities Act in
1994," Ms. Hoye said in a statement last month.

She said she had "decided to begin to pursue other endeavors ...
which will allow me to further the goals and ideals of school-to-work,"
but did not give any specifics on her plans for the future.